The building in Chandigarh city crumbled as construction workers in an adjoining plot were digging a basement, triggering the wall of the liquor store to cave in.

"Six people are confirmed dead and 11 have been injured. They have been taken to hospital for treatment," Chandigarh's senior superintendent of police Sukhchain Singh Gill told AFP.

He added that no one else was feared trapped after rescuers helped by residents plucked out survivors using shovels and bare hands to shift mangled heaps of steel and concrete.

The accident is the latest in a long line of deadly building collapses in India, some of which have highlighted shoddy construction standards.

In July, seven people died when a three-storey building collapsed in heavy rains in Mumbai just a year after an 11-storey apartment tower in Tamil Nadu came crashing down killing 61 people, mostly labourers.

A massive influx of people to cities in search of jobs and a shortage of cheap housing have fuelled the construction of illegal buildings across the country, often with sub-standard material.

Millions also live in dilapidated old buildings, many of which cave in during heavy rains.

The Straits Times

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